Nature Look

Chikmagalur

2011-11-12T14:38:00.000+05:30

Chikmagalur is the place which I like most among the places which are in weekends drive from Bangalore. I have been there 5 years before just after my marriage and really loved the hill surrounded Coffey producing state. Rima, my wife was asking me to revisit the place for a long time. This time Nemo, my almost 2 years old son was also with us, so we were looking for a resort which would be close to the nature. I wanted Nemo should feel the pure nature as this generation is really unfortunate in this.

After lots of Google search I found one place which I really liked by seeing the images posted in the web. Hunkal Woods, an eco friendly resort 20 KM far from Chikmagalur is midst of a 1000 acre lush green Coffey estate. This time my best buddy Probal Sen who himself is a nature lover has also decided to visit this place with us.

After making a reservation over phone, we started our journey on Saturday very early morning. Nemo was so energized that he woke up at 3 AM while we started. The road was beautiful for first 100 KM but after that the road was narrow. However I enjoyed the drive and after having a five hours drive we reached Chikmagalur. Hunkal Woods is approximate 25 KM from the Chikmagalur town and it took another 20 minutes to reach the first signboard of the resort on the main road. The road was very scenic, through the lush green hills and Coffey plantation. But the last 3.2 KM stretch from the main road to the resort gate is pathetic. A true 4WD vehicle is required. It was a litmus test for my TATA Indica which is built for the Indian road. It took me 25 minutes to cross that 3 KM stretch and to reach the main gate of the resort. Everybody in the car was praising TATA Indica but nobody mentioned my driving skill.

As soon as we reached the main gate of Hunkal Woods our tiredness of driving such a long distance disappeared. The resort is surrounded by hills and big trees. Barbets were calling from the trees and a cool breeze from the hill side was touching our body and soul. As soon as we parked our vehicle the guest in-charge Mr. Nizam welcome us. The resort has one main British style Bungalow good for a group of 6/7 people and 3 more cottage type rooms. We have been given the cottage type rooms. The rooms were decent and clean. We dropped our luggage inside the room and sat outside to feel the nature. We were greeted by warm Coffey. After spending some time inside the campus of Hunkal Woods we decided to have an early lunch and to take a small nap. The vegetarian lunch was fantastic. The dining area is built a little far from the main building and surrounded by thick jungle. It was just like we were having our lunch midst of the nature. There is a “Machan” built inside the campus on a tree top. After lunch we relaxed for some time on the Machan, literally top of a big tree. Then we decided for a quick nap to get more energy for the evening.

Machan - Ideal to relax in the lap of the nature


Hunkal Woods Property. Main Bungalow and the Machan is in left side

In evening, Nijam took us to the view point, a quite good 1 hour trek to the top of the hill. The trek was deep inside the forest. We could spot lots of birds while we were trekking to the hill top. While we reached the top it was almost dark. The sun set some times back leaving the last red light in the sky. The cool breeze and the last light of the day in the horizon were creating a heavenly atmosphere on the top of the hill. We were at the top for some time to feel the nature and then started to get down. It was almost dark at that time and we found ourselves in complete darkness while we were in the mid of the way. Due to the darkness we took the main road while coming down and it proved very fortunate to us. There was a vehicle coming down in that road and we were picked up by them and dropped in-front of the resort gate. It saved an hour in that evening.

Last light of the day from the top of the view point

We have ordered some non-veg dishes for our dinner and those foods were taken from the nearby town by Nijam. He was such a fantastic guy to provide all kind of help in time. We enjoyed the evening in the dining area with some snacks and drinks. The area was tastefully illuminated with dim light inside the darkness of the woods. We met Mr. Ananth, the manager of the resort and his family at dinner. We chatted a long time with them. We bid good night at around 10:30 at night and went to the bed. It was cold outside and the continuous breeze from the hill side was making it more pleasant.

The next day started for me and Probal very early. We got the Coffey at 4:30 in the morning and were ready by 5:30 to visit a nearby lake. We observed a beautiful sunrise on our way to the lake. The sun came out behind the hills and the first ray of the sun was playing with the mist and was creating a golden atmosphere all around. After witnessing the magic of the sunrise we headed towards the lake and reached soon. A big lake in the foot of the hills and lots of water lilies were making the place out of the world. The calmness of the vast lake and the warm of the morning sun were soaking all the pollution we have taken from the city from our body and mind. We were there for some time and enjoyed the bliss of the nature in full. Then we started heading back towards the resort. On our way back, the hills of Chikmagalur were coming out from the layer of the mist and the landscape was fantastic.

Sunrise in a misty morning at Chikmagalur

Early Morning at Lake

Early morning at Lake

After reaching to Hunkal Woods we spent some time exploring the big area of the resort. We also observed the coffey plantation and the coffey producing units. We found lots of birds inside the campus. Time was approaching fast to have lunch and bid a good bye to Hunkal Woods. It was the final hour of our 2 days stay in nature’s lap. Soon we finished our lunch and took a little rest and were ready for another 5 and half hours drive towards the hectic city life.

It was 4 in the afternoon when we said good bye to the Hunkal Woods and the Coffey estate finally and started towards our city life with a promise that we will come back again for a longer stay to rejuvenate our soul.

Hunkal Woods

Hunkal Woods main Bungalow

A Sunset Story

2011-11-10T21:15:00.000+05:30

I had a long wish to capture the beauty of the sunset over some ocean. The opportunity came suddenly when I had to travel to Kualalampur for 3 weeks due to my office work. As soon as the opportunity came I was looking for a week end trip to Langkawi Island which is a one night journey from Kualalampur city.

As per the plan, one Fri day night I found myself boarding in a Volvo bus which will take me to Kuala Perlis and from there I have to take a ferry to reach Langkawi Island.

I didn’t have much time except one full day and one morning in Langkawi, so I had only one evening to capture the beauty of the sunset over Andaman Sea. But from morning the sky was overcastted and I was not happy to see the clouds in the sky. The horizon was fully covered with the cloud and I didn’t see the face of the sun.

Till afternoon I couldn’t see the sun and by then I was very upset. I didn’t have anything except to depend on my luck. But I didn’t leave the hope, so I started exploring the best place in the beach from where I can capture the sunset if really it is going to be happened.

Now the “Wait game” started. I can remember, I was reading my watch frequently and was observing the cloud formation in the horizon. My heart was running high to anticipate whether I could see the sunset or not.

At last, when I lost all my hope, suddenly I noticed the sky was little clear than earlier. And within minute I found the golden light of the setting sun on the sea and beach. But the sun was still under cloud cover. I was ready with my equipments, so without wasting a second my whole camera set up started working. And, within minutes the nature started playing with colors in the canvas of the sky. The sun remained hidden behind the cloud but I was thankful to the nature to allow me to witness the riot of the color in the horizon over the Andaman Sea. I still remember the 10 minutes of the evening was most beautiful time I ever had. I continued shooting the landscape till the last light of the day and even in the darkness. It was such an amazing experience that I will cherish my whole life.

The series of the images I made there....

The first show of the light

The play of color has been started

Nature was playing with the color in the canvas of the sky

The night was approaching over the island

The island at night

The Rainforest Expedition, Agumbe (Video)

2011-07-18T22:23:00.002+05:30

This video is made on a short trip to Agumbe a rainforest in north Karnataka state of India. This is just a glimpse of the landscape and the flaura & fauna of this unique landscape....

(Larger version at youtube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACabvkVkvQA)

The King of the Rain Forest

2011-07-15T13:50:00.005+05:30

It was my long time wish to stay inside a rain forest and experience the amazing fauna of a typical rain forest. But after many planning the visit was pending for a long. But this time I was determined to travel to Agumbe, a place at Shimoga District in Karnataka. This place is actually lying in the Thirthahalli taluk and the Malnad region. Agumbe is among the places in India that receive very heavy rainfall earning it the sobriquet, "Cherrapunji of the South".

Agumbe Rainforest Research Station (ARRS), founded by renowned herpetologist and snake conservationist Romulus Whitaker was my destination and shelter of my 3 days visit. Arnab, Anirban and Shreyan, 3 of my colleagues were also very interested to visit the place and they also packed their bag with me. There is only one bus goes to Agumbe from Bangalore every night. So, we got into that bus on one rainy Friday evening from Bangalore Kempegowda Bus-stand. The night passed away in the bus and we touched the wet ground of Agumbe on Sat day early morning. It was a small town, drenched in rain. We have a cup of fine Coffey at bus-stand and hired an Auto Rickshaw to go to ARRS. The research station is 2/3 km far from the town and deep inside the forest. Soon, we reached at ARRS and found the Leopard Cottage (Where we would be staying for next 3 days) surrounded by greens. It was the time for our eyes to adjust with the greens around as they are not used to in city life.

Trekking Route near ARRS

After having breakfast, we were trying to explore the surroundings and found lots of frogs, grasshoppers, praying mantis and lots of unknown colorful insects and off-course leeches around us. My camera came out of my backpack and started working. Rain was giving its company and it was lush green all around. We were tired after a hectic bus journey and decided to take little rest after lunch. After a quick nap we also trek around the campus and went towards a stream which was flowing in full strength. The day light was disappearing fast and night was knocking at the door. During our trek I found a beautiful golden frog was posing infront of my camera. As soon as night came, all surrounding changed totally. It was pitched dark as the station runs by solar power and it has very less lights to save the power. We had torches with us but my 5 cell torch was appearing like a candle in that darkness. And the sound of crickets from the jungle in that night – wow it was something to feel. We decided to go for a trek along with the researcher of ARRS to trace mammals around the campus. We all were searching for mammals by using our torch. It was fun. Few people searching for mammals using torch lights in pitched darkness in the kingdom of snakes. Every step was made with extra care. After a search of two hours we could manage to spot a hare and couple of Slender Lorries and few scorpions. After a hectic day it was the time to take proper rest at night. We went to our bed not knowing what is waiting for us next day.


A Golden Frog was found during the night trek

A warm sunlight welcome our next morning. After a proper rest our energy level was on top and we started a trek towards the same stream in morning. The road was surrounded by thick jungle. The path was slippery due to heavy rain last night. A continuous sound of crickets was coming from the jungle. We were walking inside the meadows carefully. But nature has something different in his mind. He played with us little. I realized soon that our extra carefulness also a joke to natures camouflage when I just stepped a Malabar Pit Viper. I even didn’t realize that I crossed it and my friend discovered something is moving when I stepped out. To my horror I just realized I was almost stepping on a venomous Malabar Pit Viper. Now it was the time to handle it carefully to watch its behavior. I did with a small stick and the viper was in a striking pose. Later my friend handled it which allowed me to click some images of this beautiful creature. This was our first meet with any snake in the kingdom of snakes. Till then we were not aware what is waiting for us for the day. We spent a good time with the Pit and let it go. We headed towards the stream. After spending some time in the stream we came back to ARRS.

Malabar Pit Viper in striking pose

We had our lunch and I decided to head towards the town. Shreyan was accompanying me and the other two decided to take some rest at cottage. On the way to town I was actually trying to capture the sound of crickets which was continuously coming from the forest. It was an awesome moment; we two were feeling the forest truly. After spending some time in forest we headed towards the town for some Coffey. We spent almost an hour at town and then decided to come back to ARRS. We decided to hire an auto to reach soon at ARRS. And I will thank this decision to my whole life. As soon as we reached ARRS, we heard that one cowboy was shouting that he has just seen a big snake. We immediately along with the ARRS volunteers ran to the spot. And to my utter disbelief I found a black tail of a snake is going inside a patch of bush. My adrenaline was high as I knew what we have spotted. When we spotted the head of the snake we knew at that time we were meeting the King of Agumbe just inside the ARRS campus. The King Cobra was around 10 ft long and it was comfortable inside the bush turning its head towards us, watching every activity. My fingers were busy on the shutters of the cameras and to my sheer luck I was shooting a 10 ft large King Cobra in daylight with a 100mm macro lens from just 4/5 ft away. Suddenly the snake changed its position and its head was towards us. We felt the distance was not very safe for the king and we should respect the lethality of this beautiful snake. I ran back to my cottage which was very near, awake my two other friends, grabbed my 70-300 lens and came back to the same spot. We all were then in a little safer distance. We watched the beauty of the rainforest for more than 40 minutes and then decided to leave the place and let the king live in peace. It was a moment of my entire life. Everybody was telling about our luck to spot the king in 2^nd day. I was thanking my God. On the way back to the cottage we spotted a rat snake and a green vine snake too. We spotted the King again just after couple of hours inside the field searching for food. It was dark at that time. We went there with torches and found it was aggressive at that time. We were just observing its behavior as there was no chance of photography in the darkness.

The King

The night was again pitched dark and full of noises from the forest. We had our dinner early and were very careful while coming back from dinner hall to Leopard Cottage. I was using a search light then to scan the pathway as the King was in the campus. Soon we reached the cottage and just for curiosity I switch on the search light and started scanning on the field where we spotted the King last time. Instead of King I could spotted a Big Krait there and it was moving. The krait was not even 15 ft away from our cottage and soon we could spot the King too in the field. It was a fearful experience to spot two snake eater tremendous venomous snakes just 15-20 ft away from the cottage. I was thinking the King is hungry and there is a chance the krait will fall under its prey. I was not sure if King considers Kraits as it prey. Suddenly it started raining heavily and we lost the two snakes in that intense rain. We waited for long but there was no sign of stopping the rain. We came inside the cottage, locked the door scan the whole room carefully and went to the bed.

A warm sunshine welcome our third day at Agumbe. We were expecting the king or krait again infront of the cottage but couldn’t see any of them. The horror of night disappeared with the broad day light. It was our final day at ARRS. In morning we went to see Yogikundi falls which was 6 KM away from ARRS. We took an Auto-Rickshaw and went to the falls. The final stretch was a km trek through the forest. It was a beautiful falls flowing in full strength empowered by the monsoon.

Yogikundi Falls

After coming back to ARRS, we again went on a search of the King, but no sign of it. We had a trek inside the forest towards the stream. We spotted many frogs on the way. We spent almost an hour in the stream. The water was cold and was flowing in its strength. On our way back, I just noticed one snake fall from a tree in the water of the stream and it started swimming. We did an extensive search of the snake in the water and surroundings but couldn’t.

With ARRS Team Members at stream

While we came back to the campus we spotted another pit viper on a tree. It again started raining. We had our lunch and went back to our cottage. The rain didn’t allow us to go outside and we were also packing up our entire luggage. The time to bid good bye to ARRS was approaching and we all were sad.

The Stream near ARRS

Finally we started our journey back to Bangalore at evening saying good bye to all ARRS members and the amazing forest with a promise, we have to come back again. The three days went just like a dream. Meeting the king was an extreme experience.

Few Random Images:

Golden Frog. The image also captured the wet habitat of this frog

Bush Frog

A Colorful Insect

Tortoise Beetle

A video on this expedition which represents the glimpse of the unique landscape and its flora & fauna

Orchha, A Small Historic Town on the bank of Betwa

2011-07-01T21:30:00.003+05:30

Orchha is a place with historical importance. This is a small town in Tikamgarh district of Madhya Pradesh. This historical town lies on the bank of Betwa River.

I had to visit this place during my filming of The Last Hope, my short documentary film on Asian Vultures. I visited the place to find vulture chicks.

With no prior idea about the place I collected some information that there is a good population of Long Billed Vultures at Orchha. And I had to shoot some footage of vultures’ chick, so decided to check the place once on the month of March, 2011.

As per plan, one evening of late March I started my journey from Bangalore by “Samparkranti Express” which took more than 28 hours to reach Jhansi, which is the nearest railway junction of Orchha. I booked my hotel from Bangalore and they arranged a car for me to pick me up from Jhansi which is 15 km far. I reached Jhansi at around 3 hours in morning. This is the first time I touched any city in central India ever. My car was waiting outside of Jhansi Railway station which took almost 20 minutes to drop me in the hotel and quickly I freshened up and took a quick nap. However I woke up early and had a quick breakfast. I was ready to explore the town and to find out the best places where I can collect the footage of vultures’ chick. At the first sight the town seems so beautiful. It was a small historic town with lots of memorials of “Mughal” (Hindi word) Era and with beautiful people. I was happy to see the town is small so I didn’t have much trouble to find out the right places as I didn’t have much time to spend at Orchha.

My driver was a young lad with full of enthusiasm. He guided me to “Jahangir Mahal” (Hindi Word) which is the biggest palace in Orchha. I found the whole town is not very crowded with tourists but many foreigners who actually doing some research on either Indian history or on ancient palaces. When I came to the top of the “Jahanghir Mahal” (Hindi Word) I noticed a group of Long Billed Vultures, but I couldn’t be much happy as there was no sight of their nest and they were sitting in a place which is not ideal for any good footage.

Jahangir Mahal

Soon, I came out from “Jahangir Mahal” (Hindi Word), my driver took me another place called “Biwi ka Maqwara”(Hindi Word). This place was much smaller than “Jahangir Mahal” (Hindi Word) and no tourist at all. As soon as I reached there, my heart jumped in joy and hope. I could see the nest of long Billed Vultures from the gate. I could see many Long Billed Vultures around the palace. The small river Betwa was flowing just by the side of the ruins of some old monuments. The place was calm and beautiful. The gatekeeper of the palace stopped me for ticket and after checking my ticket when he came to know that I was there to film the vultures and I am making a film on vultures he was really helpful to give me the information from where I can get the footages. I entered the one of the monuments of the palace and placed myself in a place from where I can collect the footages of the vultures. I spent 4 hours and was really satisfied to collect some good footage of the Long Billed vultures, its chick and the conversation between mothers and chicks.

Long Billed Vulture on the top of one of the monuments

After a satisfactory work I came back to hotel for lunch. At that time temperature was rising rapidly and the sun was very harsh at noon. After taking a good shower and lunch I jumped into the bed for a good sleep as I was very tired. Again I left the hotel at around 4 PM in evening to the same place where I was in morning. Central India is known for very hot and dry weather in summer, and in the beginning of summer Orchha was not the exception. In the evening 4 there was plenty of light and it was hot. However this time I went to another monument of the palace and found a chick which is younger than the morning one. My evening went behind the camera shooting the beautiful chicks in different angle. I was truly satisfied the way the day one gone. With the soft light of the setting sun the ruins of ancient “Mughal” (Hindi Word) Era was looking fabulous in the side of River Betwa. With the light gone I didn’t have many things to do except coming back to hotel, reviewing the images and footages I had taken the whole day and finally go to bed after having a good dinner early.

Ruins beside the river Betwa

The next day started very early for me. I met Dr. Patrick Benson, one of the famous vulture scientists in the word who is known for his cape vulture work for more than 25 years. He came to Orchha to count the number of chicks of this nearly extinct breed and to observe their health and behavior. We have been introduced earlier by email and knew each other. But meeting with this great personality was a big experience for me. We went to the same “Biwi ka Maqwara” (Hindi Word) and went on a top of a monument from where we can watch the vulture movements. Pat has given me an interview for my film stating how fast the decline of the Asian Vulture happened in India and this subcontinent. The time was running very fast; Pat was working on his project and I was filming his work, vultures and chick silently. In between work Pat was sharing his experience and knowledge with me which was all valuable piece of information to make a documentary film.

Biwi ka Maqwara

It was the last day for me at Orchha, so I was trying to collect footages as much as possible. So we roam around the whole day around the town. Though the summer was scorching but it couldn’t stop us to visit all the monuments and ruins in that town. Even we climbed to ”Laxmi” (Hindi Word) temple which was quite high under the mid day sun to find vultures and chicks. We went to one temple which was a bit far from the town, but when we reached there the Orchha was visible from the top of the temple and it was so beautiful. I was happy that I could utilize the days properly and by then I almost had all the footages I require. In evening the time came to say good bye to Dr. Pat. I thanked him for all the help and rushed towards the hotel. I had to pack up and to leave for Jhansi.

Orchha Town from far. Left is Jahangir Mahal and the top monument is Laxmi temple

2 days in Orchha took me those old days where a small town beside a small slow moving river. People are used to with a very slow and peaceful life. One can feel the history around this place and the town has it unique charm around it which is quite far from the city madness of 21^st century.

Climibing Laxmi Temple in search of Vulture chick

Dr. Patrick Benson

Corbett – An Amazing Experience in Foothills of the Himalaya

2011-07-01T20:38:00.004+05:30

I was at Ramnagar (Uttarakhand) in mid february of 2011 for almost 15 days during my documentary film The Last Hope shooting. The film was extensively shot in the villages around Ramnagar. Ramnagar is known as the gate way of world famous Jim Corbett National Park or Corbett Tiger Reserve. We were not sure whether we would get time to enter the park due to our strict schedule of filming Vultures outside the forest; however we had a wish to manage some time and to visit the famous park.

At the end of our stay we found that we collected almost all the footage what we wanted and we can spend at least one full day and one half day visiting the park. At the 11^th hour when we decided to visit the park we didn’t have any permit to do that. However that didn’t become a big issue because during this stay we met Mr. Tiwari who was the Park Warden and a gentleman with vast knowledge in wildlife and about Corbett. With the same interest in wildlife and photography we soon became good friends. He gave me special permission to visit the park and he offered me his own Bungalow at Dhikala, deep inside the forest to stay over the night. I was so grateful to him that for his kindness we could visit the park which is always booked by the visitors from all over the world.

We could only manage one afternoon and one full day to enter the park from our busy shooting schedule. So, with all excitement one fine afternoon we entered the forest. Our location coordinator Yashpal was driving the vehicle. The vehicle was an open Gypsy. We were passing through the thick Sal forest. Yashpal was telling many stories of tiger sighting. I was ready with my cameras and lenses that no opportunity should be missed. Suddenly we heard the alarm call of langur. We stopped and started following the alarm. A Langur throws alarm if it sees a tiger. Our adrenalin started running as the langur was not very far from us. But we couldn’t spot anything after waiting for a long time at that spot. The langur was not calling at that time and we decided to head straight because there might be a chance the tiger left that place. We started moving and after a few kilometers we again heard the call of Langur and this time we even could hear the call of crows. But we cannot see any movement inside the forest. We were feeling frustrated as we knew the tiger was very near but we couldn’t see anything. We met few more vehicles as all the drivers and guides with tourists were following those calls. But all our effort went vein. We entered the park at 2 PM and we couldn’t spot a tiger till 5 PM. However we have seen many spotted deers, langurs, wild boars, jackal, and variety of birds by then. But our all senses were looking for a tiger. It was then almost dusk; we decided to come outside the forest. Our fellow tourist already left quite before. Our Gypsy started moving towards the gate and we came out from the core to buffer zone soon. Suddenly we again heard the langur’s call and we could spot one elephant of forest department with two tourists. We were then almost just few kilometers before the entrance of the park. Our vehicle stopped near the elephant and Yashpal whispered “Saab, Tiger” (Sir, there is a tiger). At that point I could hear only some noise of breaking bones and it took me few more seconds to realize that there was a huge male tiger on a sambar kill deep inside the lantana bush just 15 feet away from our vehicle. We were hearing the calls from langur as the tiger was approaching towards its kill. For first few minutes I forgot everything about the world. I was amazed to see the huge size of a wild tiger seating on its prey. The tiger was not very happy with the presence of the elephant and it was growling. I stood on the gypsy to take some images of the tiger, but there was no light and the tiger was inside the lantana bush. So make a clear image of the tiger was impossible. I was riding on the top of the open vehicle if I could manage any good image. In this time the elephant made a move towards the tiger and suddenly I heard a sound of thunder and a lightening effect in front of my eyes. The tiger roared and made a mock charge toward us. To my horror, it was not even a second when the tiger made the charge from a distance of a mere 15 feet and went back to its kill. The elephant didn’t waste much time to clear the area and moved back and I was hearing Yashpal was telling “Saab Ji Baith Jaiye” (Sir, Please seat down). But I couldn’t move. However I came t o my sense soon and took the seat in gypsy and then I realized even I couldn’t move my camera and the lenses. My all five senses were not working properly and the camera seemed very heavy to me. Phew, what an experience to face an angry wild male tiger. I could remember those few seconds in my whole life.

Growling Tiger in Lantana Bush

We came outside of the forest soon and went back to our guest house. At night after consuming a few cups of tea when I restored back my all senses I found there was one image came capturing the growling tiger in the bush.

The next day we went again inside the forest and started going towards Dhikala range. That night we were supposed to spend inside the forest at the Bungalow of Park Warden. We noticed lots of spotted deers, sambar, barking deers and variety of birds. But our heart jumped in joy when we spotted one elusive yellow throated martin. It was such an amazing experience to see this rare species. We also spotted a handsome jackal just in front of us. He was very curious about us and was heading right towards us.

Yellow Throated Martin - A rare Encounter

Jackal - Inside Corbett NP

The cool night was awesome at Dhikala. The guest houses were surrounded by thick forest and a species of monkey was making sounds all around the night. A cool breeze was following from the river Ramganga. We went to bed early as we have to wake up very early in next morning.

We woke up in next morning with the alarm calls of Sambar deer. But it was coming from the opposite side of the river. The morning was very cold. We started our journey again through the grassland of the forest. The whole forest was wrapped by thick mist. We headed towards the river from where the alarm call was coming. We noticed fresh pugmark of tiger but couldn’t notice a single after waiting for a long in cold. We spotted a beautiful Crested Kingfisher right on the top of a wooden pool on the river and then noticed a Sambar pair. Those were mating couple. The male was following the female on the river. They watched us carefully and then crossed the river slowly.

Male Sambar on Ramganga River Bed

Female Sambar on Ramganga River Bed

Then we moved to the Gharial Points of Ramganga and we could notice few Gharials basking in the Sun. Even we spotted some huge Golden Mahseer fishes in the clear water of Ramganga. While roaming inside the forest we again came across the line of Spotted Deer, Sambar and Wild Boars. Then we realized we had to come out from the jungle soon as that was our last day at Ramnagar and we had to start for Delhi post lunch.

Gharials on Ramganga River

Golden Mahseer in Ramganga

So, it was the time to say good bye to Corbett with a promise that we have to come back again and spent some days inside this amazing forest with amazing biodiversity. This time we couldn’t spent with the wildlife of the Corbett much due to our documentary film which was going on Asian Vultures, but by then we made many friends there and I am sure we will get the same warm hospitality whenever we will be back to this amazing tiger land.

Few random images from Corbett

Corbett NP in evening sunlight from the outside of the park

Corbett National Park, Ramganga River

Misti morning in Corbett at Dhikala Range

Corbett Landscape

Sunset at Corbett

Crested Kingfisher on a pool on Ramganga River

The Last Hope screening at Christ College, Bangalore

2011-06-11T18:39:00.000+05:30

Went to Christ College, Bangalore for the screening of "The Last Hope". The film has been screened in-front of 100+ students, professors and other stuffs. Being nostalgic after seeing the chairs, tables, benches, students after so many days of my college life. The students were so interested in wildlife and its conservation.

Next Two Screenings of "The Last Hope"

2011-06-04T16:35:00.002+05:30

Next Two Screenings of "The Last Hope"

11th June, 2011 (Sat) from 12:00 PM onwards at Christ College, Bangalore

15th June, 2011 (Wed) from 2:00 PM onwards at Columbia Asia Hospital, Auditorium, Yeshwanthpur.

A Small Clip from The Last Hope

2011-06-01T22:20:00.002+05:30

A small clipping of The Last Hope

Next Screening at Wipro Campus

2011-06-01T22:18:00.003+05:30

The next screening of The Last Hope is scheduled to be screened at Wipro, Electronic City Campus on 3rd June, 2011 from 12:30 pm onwards on the event of the world environment day.

All wiproites are welcome.

The First Screening of THE LAST HOPE at Alliance Francaise, Bangalore

2011-06-01T21:58:00.011+05:30

Few Still from the event of first screening of The Last Hope at Alliance Francaise, Bangalore

Neloy explaining the story of making The Last Hope

Rima did an excellent anchoring

The Very First Screening of the film at auditorium.

Mr. Subbu is telling about the importance of Vulture

Clement is saying about the decline of the Vulture Species

Sumantha Ghosh is sharing his experience in Vulture Conservation

Audience: It was almost FULL HOUSE

The Last Hope Screening

2011-05-17T21:05:00.003+05:30

All nature Lovers are invited on the event of the first screening of the documentary film The last hope. This film is about the relentless struggle of the conservationists in India and this subcontinent to save the Gyps Vulture from the brink of extinction.

Venue : Alliance Francaise, Miller Tank Bund Road, Vasanthnagar, Bangalore

Date : 20th May (Fri), 2011

Time : 6:30 Pm to 8:30 Pm

Wonderful Waynad

2010-10-25T12:26:00.009+05:30

I was bore working continuously without any break and with hectic city life. I was desperate to take a small break. My son, Adhrit is now 10 months old. So, I was in dilemma. I don’t want to be away from him, but I want to be out from the city noise and pollution for at least couple of days. So, this time we were set for a family trip including my parents. I was considering between Ooty, Masinagudi and Kerala. As none of our family members visited Kerala, so Gods Own Country won the lottery and I started to finalize the location out of Kerala.
As my primary objective was to stay outside the normal City l life (It would be better if out of the civilization) I finalized one resort at Banasura. Banasura is renowned for its largest earth lake in Asia, which is located at Waynad district of Kerala. The resort was Banasura Island Retreat. I liked the images given to their website. They have one twin cottage, one honeymoon villa and few more rooms in main building. We booked the twin cottage for 2 nights 3 days and it was not very expensive.
On the day we tried to start very early, but we were late as Adhrit was sleeping in the morning. However, he soon realized that we are getting late, so woke up quickly and helped her mom to get him ready. We started from Bangalore at 6:30 in the morning, one and half hour late from our schedule.
The road till Srirangapatna was as usual good as we took Mysore road. From Srirangapatna I did a mistake. Instead of moving towards Mysore – Sulthanbathery , I took another road via Ranganathittu in the hope that the road would be good and short. But soon all my expectation turned to frustration as the condition of the road was really bad. We took 9 long hours to reach Waynad and finally with the help of the local guys and the resorts manager we were in at around 3:30 in the afternoon. Adhrit was absolutely fine with this long journey.
The resort was picturesque as we wanted. It is in the lap of the Banasura Hills and facing to the Banasura Dam, a huge earth reservoir. The most amazing part was there was no sound except the crippling of different kind of birds and continuous sound of crickets. It was so peaceful to the ears that the location touched all of us immediately. The owner and manager of the resort were waiting for us to join the lunch. We were also badly hungry. So, immediately we rushed for lunch at their restaurant. The view of the surrounding hills and the dam was thrilling through the glass walls of the restaurant. The food served to us was excellent and we found different kind of wonderful dishes in next 2 days during our stay.

The Lake View from Resort's Resturant

The twin villa located in an excellent location. The view from the balcony was mindblowing. It started raining heavily at the time we finished our lunch. After entering to the villa we didn’t have any option except to seat idle in the balcony and watch the rain falling heavily on the lake water. It was a peaceful afternoon. The interior of the villa was excellent, decorated in Kerala style. The surrounding was astonishing, no sound except the sound of falling waters, constant rain forest birds crippling. The rest of the day went lazily and we finished our dinner early and slipped inside the blanket.

Adhrit is having lunch at Banasura Island Retreat Resort Balcony

We didn’t see the sun the next whole day. Sky was overcastted and it was raining often. I tried to capture some beauty of the lake and hill from the balcony but light was so poor that I decided to leave the camera behind and enjoy the rain fully. Post lunch the rain stopped for a while and we headed for a speed boat ride in the water of the Banasura Dam. But when we reached the spot we found a huge crowd of people waiting in the queue. So, instead of waiting in the queue we roam around the lake for few time and left to see Meenmutty Falls which was very near by. The whole area was full of mud due the rain. The path to the Meenmutty falls is surrounded by thick forest and the road ahead to the falls is very slippery and very narrow. Local people tied some rope to ascend the steep hilly path. Nobody from my family except me did a try to hike that road. It took me almost 20 minutes to reach near the falls by that jungle trail. The falls was full and dangerous. There was no such place where I can capture the falls. So, without a single click I had to come back. We had local Coffey in one road side stall while coming back. The taste of the coffey was excellent. By evening we were back to the resort and again nothing to do except relaxing in the balcony of the villa.

The Lake View from my Balcony of Banasura Island Resort

The next day morning welcome us with ray of sunlight. I was sleeping when I heard a beautiful song of some of my avian friends. I immediately came outside and saw one beautiful Green back Tit was playing around very nearby branch of the balcony. While I came back with my camera it decided to relocate itself to a far branch. I did some shooting of this beauty before it realized that somebody was peeping its private life and flew away. The morning gave me a chance to click couple of images of the dam and the surrounded hills. These were the only few images I had taken in this trip.

Banasura Island Retreat Office Building

The day was the final day at Banasura and we have been given a fantastic kerala oil body massage. I was feeling rejuvenated. We were now preparing for to come back again in our normal city life. We had our lunch and said good bye to the resort people who really had taken care of us very well.
On our way back to Bangalore we were really thrilled about our past 3 days we spent at the resort. It was god in all aspect, the location, the hospitality, the food and lastly and the most important is the peace. The resort is midst of a forest, surrounded by hills and facing a huge dam. Our ears were filled with various sounds of different tropical birds. The trip was not as great from a photographer perspective as the Rain God didn’t allow me to take my camera out most of the time but the Nature God has given all his blessing to recharge my all five senses till a next break from the polluted city life.

Travel Photo Contest @BlogAdda.com

2010-05-28T18:26:00.029+05:30

This blog and the photographs are for the Travel Photo contest at www.blogadda.com by http://www.pringoo.com/

I am a Himalaya Lover and travel a lots in Himalaya. I would be happy to participate in this contest. Already have seen beautiful travel photos from the fellow members from all around the world. I would like to show some of my himalayan scapes both in Color and Black and White.

Pic #1
Light and Shadow in Himalaya - a black and white approach
I was travelling through Ladakh and have seen one of the most beautiful sunset in my life. Sun was playing hide and seek behind the rough mountains and an awesome light effect in the mountain and in the Indus river. I tried to capture this beauty in Black and White.

Pic#2
Panoromic View of Yumesamdam, North Sikkim
This image was made at Yumesamdam which is also called by Zero Point in North Sikkim. The chilling wind and the sky touching mountain were creating a heavenly scenary and I prefered a black and white approach for the panoroma.

Pic #3
From the Bank of Tso-MoririThis image was made at Tso-Moriri lake, Ladakh. While returning from the Lake the Korzok village was looking scenic under the vast mountain range and the blue sky. The morning sun rays were creating magic on the yellow stone of the mountain and the reflection on the water of Tso-Moriri.

Pic #4
Camping Site at Tso-Kar, Ladakh.
This image was taken from the Tso-Kar. The campsite is being seen far under the huge mountain where we stayed. The place was open, vast surrounded by high mountains. Chilling winds, rough mountains and amazing blue sky made this place truely a "Moon-Land".

Pic #5
An evening in Himalaya This was a memorable sunset when I was travelling through Ladakh. The Sun was hiding behind the mountain and a stream of rays was falling on a part of the mountain and left us speachless to see the beauty of the nature and of-coarse the Himalaya

That's all from my side...

Happy clicking...

Ranganathittu - Birders Paradise

2009-06-21T15:46:00.030+05:30

Ranganathittu is just around 125 KM from Bangalore. The sanctuary is near Mysore, more specifically it's just after the historic town Srirangapatna. The sanctuary is small in size but a true paradise of Bird Lovers. The 0.67 KM² area comprises 6 islets on the banks of River Kaveri.

Whenever I find some time in week end from our busy schedule I take my car out in early morning and drive to this amazing place. Some times with friends, some time alone. From my house it’s a two and half hours drive through Bangalore – Mysore high way.

Recently I had a trip there with my friend Subha to get some oxygen far from busty city traffic, noise and fumes. In one week end woke up very early morning, got ready quickly, checked my camera backpack and left home. On the way I had to pick up my friend, Subha. We were trying to reach there by 7 in the morning to get the best light for photography. The drive was pleasant and we reached there by 7 am. There was no tourist and the resident of the sanctuary has just started their day activity. Barbets have started their morning conference; folks of parakeet were flying from one tree to another. It was a relief to ear, eye and other five senses. I spotted a group if Grey Hornbill for the first time in Ranganathittu. But I lost chance to get a decent snap as they immediately hide inside thick canopy of the trees.

Inside the sanctuary there are plenty Baya Weaver nesting around a small water-body. The little, cute cheerful birds were in full mood of nesting and the colourful males were busy to attract their opposite sex.

After spending some with these small beauties we went ahead towards the river and was amazed to see the number of colourful Painted Storks, Ibis, Eurassian Spoonbill, Great Thick Knee, River Tern, Egrets, Pond Heron, Night Heron. There was only sound of these different birds. We took a boat and started boating in the river. The Egrets were in breeding plumage and were looking very colourful, Painted Storks were busy with their chicks. Few spoonbills were searching food in the river water. But unfortunately this time we couldn’t spot a single kingfisher. The boatman pointed towards the River Tern and he mentioned about the nest. There was a River Tern couple and they were very aggressive as we were approaching towards nest. After spending little time we decided to move ahead and let the couple leave in peace. While coming back we could see one chick of the River Tern.

While exploring in the river we took many images of Painted Stork, Eurassian Spoonbil, Pelican, Egrets and many others. Suddenly I noticed one Juvenile Marsh Crocodile very near to our boat. It gave me a single opportunity to click an image and went off under the water.

The boating was half an hour ride. We spent around 2 hours inside the sanctuary, had another boat ride. We started for Bangalore around 12 noon and by that time we could spot around 20 species of bird:

Grey Hornbill.
Coppersmith Barbet.
Baya Weaver.
Scally Breasted Munia.
Rose Ringed Parakeet.
Painted Storks.
Open Bill Stork.
White Ibis.
Eurassian Spoonbill.
Great Thick Knee.
River Tern.
Egret.
Pond Heron.
Night Heron.
Great White Pelican.
Junglee Myna
Common Myna
Pied Wagtail.
Cormorant.
Darter.

Images From Ranganathittu

1.

5.

6.

10.

11.

12.

1. Painted Stork
2. Painted Stork - Closeup
3. Eurassian Spoonbill
4. Cattle Egret (Breeding Plumage) - Closeup
5. Cattle Egret - Courtship
6. River Tern - Alert Pose
7. Pond Heron (Breeding Plumage)
8. River Tern
9. Great Thick Knee (Stone Plover) - Closeup
10. Great Thick Knee (Stone Plover)
11. Open Billed Stork
12. Night Heron

A Simple Technology

2009-06-14T19:22:00.009+05:30

A simple things some time become very useful in photography. Recently I visited to Bannerghatta Butterfly Park. The park opens at 10 am in the morning and I was late. Finally I reached there at around 1 PM. The scorching sun was not definitely ideal for any photography. I was carrying a 5 cell torch for a new experiment. The butterfly park has a good number of species - Crimson Rose, Common Crow, Blue Tiger and Lime was plentiful. I was looking for the "Red Peirott" as summer is the mating time of this species. Inside the dome of the butterfly park I found one Blue Tiger hanging from a leaf. I set my tripod and showed my friend, Subha how to use the "torch". I changed the exposer bias to -2. My friend set the torch on the butterfly. I was happy to see the output. If I dont say, no one can understand it has been taken under mid day sun. The golden light of the external torch has given a morning sunlight effect on the butterfly. I was successful in my experiment.

While exploring inside the dome of the butterfly park we found one stripped tiger sitting in an interesting composition. I didnt waste my time. My friend was now experienced to use the torch on the butterfly. He did his job splendidly. This time I negotiated with exposure bias to -1.3.After getting the satisfactory result, I was roaming about here and there, suddenly some movement caught my eye. It was difficult to notice but the small movement of this insect helped me to point it out. It was a grasshoper. A green insect on a green leaf. I started clicking images. Subha was not getting what I was shooting though we were only 1 ft away from the insect. Now again I wanted to do the same experiment here. I showed Shuva where the insect was and requested him to put on the torch light. But the intelligent insect jumped away as soon the torch light fell on it.

After spending some more time we came outside of the dome and decided to come back. On our way back my heart jumped in joy and I found the little beauty for what my eye was tired. There was a couple of Red Peirott. They were deep in love. I didn't waste my time, unpacked my camera and lens. The torch was again handed over to my friend. The couple was so busy that they completly ignored our presence and helped us to take a good number of image.
The exposure bias was -0.7 in this shot. After coming back home immediately I transfered the images in my laptop and I was very happy. There was no evidence of shadow on the images inspite of shooting under harsh sunlight.
The 5 cell torch has become a permanant equipment in my backpack since the small trip to Bannerghatta Butterfly Park.

A Refreshing Weekend in Blue Hills - Masinagudi

2009-01-13T22:04:00.021+05:30

Planning of a Small Trip: After coming back from Ladakh it was continuous 3 months I was working in Office and coming back home, a regular metropolitan routine life. My inner mind was looking for a relief from the daily city life and soul was getting a call from nature. After a brainstorming I decided to spend some days in Madhumalai forest during the Christmas holidays. Amit and two of my other friends also were ready to spend some time in the valley of “Blue Hills”. This time Rima, my wife was in Kolkata and Rumi, Amit’s better half was abroad. So it was a bachelor trip. Once the date we planned I booked two cottages in Blue valley Resort in Masinagudi. Masinagudi is situated in Madhumalai WLS, Tamilnadu and on the way to Ooty from Bandipur. At the last moment one of our friends couldn’t make up this trip due to his some personal problem and we three decided to leave Bangalore on 25th Dec 08 night. The idea behind this was to reach Bandipur in early morning and to enjoy the beauty of jungle and wildlife in the early sunlight.

26^th December, 08 9:00 PM - Masinagudi

The whole day was very exciting. We started from Bangalore at around 2 am in the morning. The road was without any traffic at that time and we reached Mysore by 5 am in the morning. Amit was looking for the road that goes towards Bandipur and ignored a one way. We stopped our vehicle infront of Mysore Palace to take a small break. Suddenly a cop came and fined Amit Rs 300 which was not in our worst dream that we could be fined to break one way in that early morning. Amit was sad so I took the control of the car and drove outside of Mysore. We were just killing our times by driving slowly, stopping by the road sided tea stalls as we were quite ahead of our scheduled time. And thus we entered the Bandipur WLS with a golden light of morning sun. As soon as we entered into the jungle a beautiful Cheetal welcome us in the forest.

Pradeep, our third friend who has come in jungle first time was thrilled. The calls of the Peafowl were a welcome relief from the traffic sounds of Bangalore. The whole way through the jungle we drove very slowly. We spotted many Brahmany Starling, Yellow Footed Green Pegion, Spotted Dove, Redvented Bulbuls, Chestnut-Tailed Starling, Brown Shrike, Magpie Robin, Jungle Myna on our way. We stopped for a while to shoot a Peafowl, but traffic inside the national forest doesn’t bother any rules.

They started honking while passing our vehicle. We reached Theppakdu at around 10:30 am and started towards Masinagudi. Amit was very confident about the road and confidently took us in a wrong route. While coming back from the wrong route I spotted one raptor sitting idle on a high perch from corner of my eye near one small bend of a road. Immediately we took a mud road towards the tree and identified a Crested Serpent Eagle. After a whole night driving we all were tired, but seeing this magnificent bird we felt a charge inside us and with in moments we were ready with our camera, lens and tripod. After getting some decent shot of this bird we approached a little further and the bird was on alert pose. My 6^th sense asked me to be prepared for a flight shot. I was clicking the bird continuously while it decided to leave the perch with its magnificent wing span.

Amit was not penalised for guiding us a wrong route.

We reached at Blue Valley resort by 11 am and the resort was beautiful. We had our breakfast. There were lots of birds infront of our resort. We could identify Scarlet Minivet, Small Minivet, Long Tailed shrike, Red-vented Bulbuls, Spotted Dove, Sunbirds around the resorts. I took a small nap while Amit was running behind the birds with his equipments. We had our lunch by 2 pm and again went for a sleep. We were called by 5 pm for an evening safari. The safari was not as good as it was just a zeep safari outside the Madhumalai forest. We spent our time in evening with some beer bottles beside the fire place in the room. The atmosphere was cool. After having dinner now we have already headed towards our bed. We have a plan to wake up early in the morning to spot more birds around the place.

27^th December, 2008 9:30 PM

Yesterday night a big herd of elephants came almost inside our resorts. The local people used crackers to chase them out. We heard the sound of crackers and breaking trees and bamboo shot till mid night. Today’s morning was very dull compared to yesterdays. We couldn’t see any bird activity near our resorts. We drove outside the resort and were roaming around the village in search of birds. Suddenly we heard a call of wood pecker. After searching we could notice a pair of Black Rumped Flameback, but they flew before we could take a record shot. We reached at a patch of small jungle in search of birds. Suddenly we noticed one Red Jungle Fowl, but it too vanished with in second before we took our camera. We started exploring the jungle by walk. Now the Barbets have started their conference and it seemed we were in a world of Barbet. After walking around 10 minutes inside the jungle we spotted one Brown Fish Owl. It spotted us before we spotted it and flew to another branch. We were behind this and it started playing hide-and-seek with us. We didn’t notice we came quite inside of the jungle behind this Fish Owl. Suddenly one sound made us stop for a second. It was an alarm call of Sambar. And we noticed ourselves are deep in a jungle without any arms (read without our tripods) which can be a habitat of Leopard. With in a minute we heard the alarm call again and decided to come out of the jungle immediately. While we were coming back we heard the alarm call few more times. It took 15-20 minutes to come out in the open area from where we started. The morning has been gone with out any good image. While having lunch we were told that we would be sent to Madhumalai Jungle Safari. We were ready by 2 pm and that was our biggest mistake. Whoever is reading my write up my sincere request not to take this safari as Tamil Nadu Govt is only taking money from the tourist and providing none in respect to a Jungle Safari. They have some noisy buses packed up with tourist after waiting a long time in ticket counter queue. The bus just took a small route outside the main jungle and didn’t stop anywhere infront of the wildlife whatever we have seen like Cheetal, Peafowl. The bus only stopped infront of a group of Langur. The afternoon was also wasted waiting for the jungle safari and spending the worst time in jungle with polluted bus and noisy tourists. We had nothing except returning to the resort and take rest as the sun has already set and there was no light for photography.

28^th December, 2008 10:00 PM

Today morning again we started roaming around our resorts in search of birds. We could find many numbers of Brahmany Starling, Jungle Myna, Coppersmith Barbets, Fantail, Ashy Drongo. The RW and RV Bulbuls were plentiful so were the sunbirds, Jungle Babbler and Mynas, Drongos and Spotted Doves. While we were returning back a Spotted Dove was having its morning bath infront of our resort. We had to leave from Masinagudi as our trip is over. So we started after having breakfast. While coming back we could spot Bar Headed Geese in a water tank near Mysore, lots of Black Ibis, White Ibis and Egyptian Vulture just outside the Mysore.

It was a good small trip in the jungle, out of the city life. Though it was not a great trip from the photography perspective but we got our oxygen for the next three four months until another trip would be planned.

Our Team Was –

Amit Mitra – IT Consultant, Logica CMG
Pradeep Dey – Network Engineer, Accenture
Neloy Banerjee – Senior Security Analyst, Accenture.

Photographing Birds

2008-11-04T23:41:00.004+05:30

Watching birds is my nature from my early younghood. I brought up in a small town of West Bengal around 40 Kms north of Calcutta city. There were lots of greenery, lakes, rivers at that time and a good numbers and variety of different birds. Later I travelled different part of India and noticed different types of Indian birds. For the last five years I have settled down in Bangalore. Now the hobby routed in a different way towards Photographing the birds which I am doing for last two years only which is a very nominal time compared to the experts. I would like to share some of my experiences in this arena.
There are few non technical things in this field which are more important than the technical parts. Lets discuss that first.
Non-Technical / Behaviourial Knowledge
#1 To me, the thumb rule of bird photography is love them first. If you dont love them how will you enjoy those moments spent behind these beauties?
#2 Second important thing is patience. Phtographing birds is not like a studio setup. When I started bird photography I always found myself standing in field with my camera without any bird arounds. Most of the time I was disappointed that no birds available for shooting. Slowly I understood this is not as easy as I was thinking. Birds are always very alert. When they will see you appaching towards them they will fly away. So, be patient. Whenever you see a bird approach towards it very slowly. If you see the bird noticed you and in a alert position, stop there wait for some time. Always make a move without the knowledge of the bird. The best thing if you can use some tree, bushes or rock as an hide. I know few well known wild-life photograhers who use hide to shoot birds. They wait for a whole day inside the hide in a hope the bird will perch near by. If you are lucky the bird will perch there or you have to try next day again. I have also seen Indian birds are well accustomed with car than the human beings. And I got many time success to shoot a bird from a car.
#3 Thirdly, you have to know the Bird's behaviour and habitat. It's very important to find a bird in its natural habitat and shoot them. As an example you can not expect a Kingfisher in a dry hill region. If you know how Kingfisher perch you can easily find them around a water body. If you know an owl's behaviour and habitat you can find them easily. The best time to photograph them is late afternoon as they are nocturnal birds and become active from late afternoon. You can photograph them in day time also if you know their habitat well where they spend their day time.
#4 Fourthly it is important to know the breeding period of a specific species. In this time you can have beautiful picture of both sex, courtship etc. And this is the time when the activity of the birds are always high. Not only that few birds get a special breeding plumage to impress their opposite sex in this period and they are always beautiful to shoot an image. The below picture is an example of the courtship of Cattle Egret in their Breeding Plumage.

#5 The fifth important thing is your attire and your behaviour in the field. A red or yellow shirt is not advisable in field while you are shooting a bird or any wild life. You should have a green color shirt which make you camouflage in the nature. You should not speak loud. If you are in group while shooting use whistle to call your friend or take his attention. When you are in hide you have to be silent and motionless. it's also good if you use some leaves or branches to hide your hide from the strong eye of the birds.
#6 Besides the above mentioned points the over all important thing is your luck. From my experience I have returned home so many days after spending 4/5 long hours with out a good shot. You dont know what nature preserves for you. I found one day myself extremely lucky after getting the below shot at Thubarahalli Lake. I don't know if I try my whole life I'll get a shot like this or not.

#6 Timing is an another important factor here. Morning and afternoon is always considered the best time for bird photography as you can find the best activity of the birds in this periods. You will hardly find any bird sitting on a open perch under the mid-day sun.

Technical Knowledge
Equipments
#1 Camera - A proper SLR camera is always advisibale though I have seen people taking good bird shot with point and shoot camera with good zoom range. But in a SLR camera you will have more option than a point and shoot body.
#2 Lens - This is the most important thing in Bird Photography. As long lens you will have as you will get the reach to a particular bird. If you have a 500mm lens you will get the bird from larger distance than a 300mm lens which means you will have always an oppurtunity to shoot a bird from a distance. Canon, Nikon and all other brand have their own 500, 600 even 800mm lens specially for bird photography. Teleconverter are also being used with the combination of different lenses to get a better reach. Although it is said that 500 mm is a decent lens for bird photography I use a 400mm prime lens, even I used 70-300 zoom also and got good result from it. A zoom is always useful if you shoot any mammals when you are shooting a bird inside a jungle. The below images came only from a 70-300 zoom lens.

#3 Tripod - To me this is a very useful equipment to get a shake free image. I use tripod even in good light also to avoid the minimum shake. Now days IS (Image Stabilization) lenses are available in the market but still tripod or monopd gives a cmplete shakefree image.
#4 Others - Besides these three basic equipments there are lots of other equipments available in the market to get better bird image. Example - Hide, Light Meter, Flash etc.

Technology
#1 Focus - This is the most important thing while shooting anything. Bird photography is not an exception. You have to ensure that the bird is in sharp focus from head to tail. In the below example the Scally Breasted Munia is in full focus. That's the reason the image came sharp with full details of the bird.

#2 Natural Perch - It is always preferable to have a natural perch in Bird Photography. While I was shooting the scally Breasted Munias I have seen them percing in eletric wire. But I waited for them to come down on a natural perch.
#3 Eye Level Shot - The bird should be at eye level when you are shooting. In the Munia shot I folded my tripod to the smallest fold and sat on the ground to get this eye level shot.
#4 Lighting - The lighting is always important and catchlight on bird is always preferable. Remember the sun should be at your back and on the bird while shooting. If you find a bird opposite to the light try to move in opposite direction whenever it is possible.
#5 Background - A clear background frame a bird image. A smooth background is always preferable in a bird image rather than a noisy or busy background. The River Tern in the below image stands out in clear green background.

#6 Position of the Bird - This is equally important while you are shooting a bird. If the face of the bird is opposite to you wait for the right time when the bird will turn towards you and then press your shutter.

Besides these there are so many small points which one can acheive slowly slowly with his experience. Every body has his own style of shooting and they develop their style and strategy with experiences. Lastly it is the joy what a true nature lover can acheive after observing and capturing a bird and share the same with others. It's not only important to capture a good image of a beautiful bird, but also understand it's importance in nature. At the same time it's important to share the same to others to save these species for long time.

Ladakh – A Journey in a Cold Desert.

2008-11-03T19:56:00.019+05:30

Arriving at Leh

After going through all the information available on the net and other relevant books, I prepared a 13-day trip and got it confirmed with a local tour operator. Our team comprised of Amit, his wife Rumi, my wife Rima and I.

We embarked on our journey on 23^rd August, 2008 from Bangalore to New Delhi at 9:25 pm. We reached New Delhi at around midnight and made the airport our halt for the night as we had to catch an early morning flight to Leh.

Air Deccan (now known as Kingfisher Red) took off at its scheduled time to Leh. When we boarded the flight it was dark outside. The sun had yet to kiss the horizon good morning. The darkness outside played a perfect ally to our plans of catching up on our sleep. But, soon our plans were spoilt by the voice of the captain informing us about the ‘not-to-miss’ sunrise. Yes, the sunrise was one of the most memorable sunrises that we saw in our lives. As the sun led us from darkness to light, the Himalaya and Karakoram mountains were visible. The view of the glaciers left us spellbound. We could only see the white peaks glistening in the golden light of the sun. It was a moment of a lifetime which everyone on the flight wanted to capture. Thus the noise of clicking of the shutters came as a no surprise. At 6:20 am on 24^th Aug we landed at the Leh airport, a very small but beautiful airport surrounded by high mountains. At the very first sight we fell in love with Ladakh…

Our travel agent was waiting outside the airport and soon we were ferried to our hotel in Leh. In the comforts of the hotel room and amidst the serene beauty of this magnificent land, I penned the first few words of my diary.

24^th August, 2008 8:00 PM

Leh

We were so excited that after reaching the hotel we hardly took any rest. Our morning was however spent trying to get accustomed to the high altitude. We are already at 3500 mts of height from sea level. In the evening we went to roam around the Leh city and Shantistupa. Shantistupa in Ladakh is located on the hilltop at Changspa. It can be reached quite easily from the Fort Road. The Stupa was constructed by a Japanese Buddhist organization, known as 'The Japanese for World Peace'. The aim behind the construction of the Stupa was to commemorate 2500 years of Buddhism and promote World Peace. His Holiness, the Dalai Lama inaugurated the Shantistupa in the year 1985. While we were approaching towards Shantistupa the sun was setting down behind the mountains and Leh fort was looking amazing in that golden light. I couldn’t stop myself from taking pictures of the beautiful old fort on the top of a hill in the dusk.

Tomorrow we will be traveling to Nubra, crossing the highest motorable path so I better hit the bed immediately.

25^th August, 2008 11:00 PM

Nubra

We had some tough time today. We started from Leh to Nubra at 9 in the morning by car. We were traveling towards Khardungla, the highest motorable path in the world. The altitude of Khardungla is 18,380 ft. We were enjoying every moment of the ride. The road is steep and narrow. We were crossing the mountain ranges one after another. At around noon we reached Khardungla and made our biggest mistake of the trip— we challenged nature. After making a number of trips in the Himalaya, we became overconfident and completely ignored the altitude that we were in. Where we should have stayed for only 10 minutes, we overstayed for an hour. Although we were all aware of the high altitude sickness it just slipped our minds. While returning from Khardungla every body got a headache and my friend’s Amit condition worsened. He even couldn’t open his eyes because of the headache and back pain. But, the photo-enthusiast that he is, he managed to see Chukar Partridge from our car. At first I though he was just kidding. Then once I looked outside from the car window I saw the beautiful bird with five chicks. Chukar Partridge is a very beautiful bird that resides in high altitude of the Himalaya and the Karakoram and is the national bird of Pakistan. This pretty bird topped my wish-list before coming to Ladakh. Wasting no time we got down from the car with our cameras and started clicking the beautiful bird. For that moment we forgot the pain that we were in. I got some beautiful photographs of this bird.

With a smile on our face, we stopped in a small shop and had some noodles for lunch. As soon as food entered my stomach I recovered from my sickness. Amit, however, was still feeling unwell. After lunch we proceeded towards Nubra. It was late afternoon when suddenly our car stopped in a barren place amidst high mountains. We couldn’t see any humans around, not even a single car on the road. The driver said that the car had some technical snag and it would be very dangerous to drive on the mountain pass. He tried calling some mechanic from Leh which will take 5/6 hours to reach at this place but the place was out of mobile coverage. The nearest village from this point was around 12 km. I started preparing myself of walking towards the village as there was no hope of being rescued by somebody else. To our delight, we noticed a car approaching us. As it came near we saw that it was full of tourists and was going to Nubra. Our driver made him a request to pick us after dropping the tourist at Nubra. He left the place after promising that he would come back. All we could do now was to wait. The sun was setting on us and the temperature was pretty cold outside. Everybody was inside the car trying to keep them warm. I was however outside watching the side-and-seek that light and shadow were playing among the mountains and the valley. It was an amazing site and I thanked God for the trouble. The cold wind along with the golden lights of the setting sun, made that moment “Out of the World” for me.

The place became dark within minutes as we waited for the car. It was almost four hours and we were now running out of patience and decided to carry on with the faulty wheels at a slow speed. We had ridden for an hour when we saw a car coming our way. We hopped onto it and made our way towards Nubra and reached the hotel around 9 pm. I was happy that all our worries were taken care and we could have a good night’s sleep. But god had other plans for us. On reaching the hotel, we found out that our rooms were given to others as the manager thought that we would not be making it after 8:30. I got furious and started blasting the manager. He then arranged for our accommodation in another hotel where food was not available. After lots of request and arguments we had our food just half an hour back. Every body is tired. Our Nubra trip was not as we had expected. Tomorrow we are heading back to Leh. Let’s see what instore is for us in our next trip.

26^th August, 2008 10:00 PM

Leh

Amit’s condition did not improve and we left Nubra today morning at 9. The morning was lovely although we didn’t get time to spend in Nubra so I was shooting some birds around our hotel campus in Nubra. While I was shooting some Redstarts suddenly I noticed some movement nearby and I was amazed to see that a Fire-Fronted Serin perched there. I did not want to miss this opportunity and so didn’t take more than few seconds to change the camera settings and start clicking the birdie. It gave me the opportunity to shoot 5 images and then it flew away giving me the joy of the world. I’ll be going to bed tonight with peace and joy that I am an owner of a beautiful image of the beautiful bird “Fire Fronted Serin”.

We reached Leh around 3 PM and spent the rest of the day lazing around. Tomorrow morning we are going to Hemmis National Park trekking.

27th August, 2008 5:30PM

Jingchan Camping Site

We are now at Jingchen Camping Site, a small camping site from where the Hemmis NP trek starts. It’s a beautiful place surrounded by the mountains and a small stream. There are around15 tents and lots of horses and donkeys to carry the luggage of the tourists. We started quite late today morning due to non availability of permission to shoot wildlife inside Hemmis National Park. We met Mr. Jigmet Takpa, Conservators of Forest, J&K and we must say he is one of the finest people we have ever met. After discussing with us about our interest in wildlife not only he arranged the required permission, he also provided us with a guide. Secondly, we were not very interested in the trek as Amit’s condition was not improving but Amit was determined to take the plunge inspite of all his pains. As we were already late we decided only to visit Jingchan today and will start trekking from tomorrow. We have to have our food as early as possible as there is no electricity here and be inside our tent before the light completely goes off. Our guides and cook are now preparing food inside their tent. The outside is cold and light is slowly fading away. The dusk, mountains, tent and over all the sounds coming from the bell of the horses made this place something different.

28^th August, 2008 6:00 PM

On the way to Rumbak

We couldn’t reach Rumbak village today due to Amit’s bad health. Rumbak was our first destination in the Hemmis NP trek route. I woke up early morning and was preparing for the long trek but when I saw Amit I was scared. He is still suffering from bad headache and he didn’t have any energy to walk. I discussed with him and tried to explain how difficult this trek would be. But he thought otherwise. The trekking route was quite strenuous. We started by 8 am after having breakfast at camping site with packed lunch. We were carrying only our hand baggage. The rest of all bags were carried by the horses. After walking few kilometres we were exhausted. The road was very narrow and steep. Some times it is inside high mountain pass. One side the mountain is standing tall and another side more than 200 meters steep falls.

Although it was strenuous we were enjoying our trek. But Amit was very tired and he was not able to carry further. Later we decided we cannot reach Rumbak today. So we camped on the way. We found a beautiful place, a small patch of green surrounded by rough mountains and a healthy stream. Amit badly needed some rest.

As I started penning the day’s experience, we decided that he is going back to Leh tomorrow with the help of one of our guides and will consult a doctor. We will proceed towards Rumbak and will come back to Leh on 30^th. We have to sacrifice two other places Mankarmo and Rumchung from our trekking route.

29^th August, 2008 7:00 PM

Rumbak Village

Amit went back to Leh today morning and we were quite fast today in our trekking route. The path was same as yesterday, strenuous but beautiful. A stream was always with us and we were crossing it again and again.

On our way I found again a group of “Chukar Partridge”. When we saw the group I let my team go ahead and waited for half an hour. At last I could manage a decent shot of this beautiful bird. I got a beautiful image of this bird at Khardungla with chicks and this time the full profile shot.

On our way we also saw the Blue Sheep – a wild species of sheep who stay in high altitude. To get a decent snap I had to climb another mountain in the opposite side as they were far. But all my efforts went in vein as I could manage only some record shots due to bad light. The whole day we traveled through the rough mountain passes. The landscape of Ladakh is totally differe

nt from all other Himalayan part where I had traveled earlier. Don’t know whether I can sleep tonight. The sky-touching mountains, the serine valleys, the flowing rivers are still fresh in my mind.

We reached Rumbak village at around 3 pm fully exhausted. The village is just like a picture, not more than 20 households in the lap of the mountains. J&K Tourism Dept has started “Homestay” here which is a part of Echo-Tourism. Every house has one room for tourists which is an income of the poor villagers.

Most of the people here are Buddhist, very calm, honest and helpful. They always greeted us with a smile. We were welcomed with hot tea, warm water and good food where we are staying tonight. The temperature out side started dripping. We will explore the village tomorrow morning and will start for Leh. We don’t know how my friend is as there is no way of communicating from this remote village.

30^th August, 2008 10:00 PM

Leh

My morning started very early. I spent almost 2 hours outside of the Rumbak village to get some images of Rosefinches. I saw a large group of Common Rosefinch yesterday outside the village. After spending almost 2 hours behind these hyper-active birds I could manage some images. After breakfast at the village we again started for Leh. Actually we were all set to go further trekking, but due to Amit’s bad health we had to return. Hope we will visit this wonderful place once again. Coming down was not as strenuous as the day before. We came down pretty fast and reached at Jinghchan by 2 PM and our car was waiting there. We reached Leh by 3 PM. We were happy to see that Amit was fine; he consulted the doctor and was on medication. As we sacrificed our trek route tomorr

ow is a spare day. We are going to take rest tomorrow. Hope Amit would be completely okay by then.

31^st August, 2008 10:00 PM

Leh

Today I don’t have much to write. The entire day we spent in leisure exploring the city. We visited the colourful shops in the market, had lunch outside in a good restaurant.

Rima did some shopping too. Amit is fine today and we are all set to visit two high altitude lakes Tso-Moriri and Tso-kar tomorrow. We will be starting tomo

rrow morning and will be spending 3 days in a camp at Tso-Moriri and Tso-kar.

1st September, 2008 7:00 PM

Tso-Moriri Camp Site

Today again we travelled a long way in the beautiful Himalayas. We started from Leh quite late as our car was stuck behind a possession at Leh. The road was good and scenic. Indus River was flowing with us. The mind-blowing landscape, the river, the sharp road terns and cold wind made us silent. We all were just watching the wonder of nature. Thickshey Monestry came on our way. We stopped there for 15 minutes. Thickshey Monestry is situated at a distance of approximately 18 km from the town of Leh. One of the most beautiful monasteries of Ladakh, it belongs to the Gelukpa Order of Buddhism. Sherab Zangpo of Stod got the Thikse Monastery built for the first time, at Stakmo. However, later Spon Paldan Sherab, the nephew of Sherab Zangpo, reconstructed the monastery in the year 1430 AD. The new monastery was sited on a hilltop, to the north of Indus River. The monestry was huge and just beautiful. After clicking photographs we resumed our journey.

We had our lunch on the way. The journey was long. After crossing many mountains we were gaining altitude. Atlast we reached one plateau and driver told us this is the Tso-Moriri lake area, but the lake was quite far from there. The road became bad. The sun set and temperature started falling. We couldn’t see anything outside as it was quite dark. We could see some hares in our car’s headlight. After crossing couple of kilometres we reached at the camp site. The site was big and almost empty. Electricity is available here from a generator. Amit and our cook are making food for us. Amit has decided today to cook something for us and it would be a record that he cooked in high altitude. We all are inside the tent as out side is bone freezing cold. It feels like we are at some place out of the world, far from civilization. If we stop gossiping we can hear only the sound of freezing wind, blowing from the lake. I think, food is ready and Amit is calling us. We have to go to another tent which is bigger and is used for dining. Lets see how cold it is in outside and how Amit servers hot food in this cold.

2^nd September, 2008 9:00 PM

Tso-Kar Camp Side

Last night was horrible for us. After having delicious noodles made by Amit we went to our own tent by 8:30 and went to bed by 9. Electricity was available till 9:30 pm only. Temperature was falling very rapidly outside and we could feel the pinch inside the tent too. We were trying to sleep but couldn’t. Bed, blanket every thing was like ice and I was shivering under the blankets. The entire night I shivered and was waiting for the morning. It was a painful long night and in every half an hour I was looking outside waiting for dawn. As soon as the sun came out I ran outside my tent and stood under the sun. It took some time to get warm. Amit was also ready; we didn’t waste our time. Immediately we freshened up and started towards the lake with all our camera equipments. The first sight of the lake was amazing. The lake was huge surrounded by high mountains. It was at an altitude of around 4500 meters. The water of the lake was crystal blue. We could see lots of bird life around the lake. Among them we could find “Bar Headed Geese”. We spent more than 2 hours capturing these beautiful birds to get some decent shots.

After getting the images of the geese I sat on the bank of the beautiful lake. It was serene. I was there for more than 40 minutes. I cannot express in words how I was feeling then.

We started towards our camp after spending almost four hours near the lake. After returning to the camp site we got ready to head for another beautiful lake Tso-Kar which is a 6 hour journeyfrom here. After having

our lunch we visited the lake again before leaving for the other lake. To our amazement the beautiful blue colors of the water in the morning had totally changed. Now the water was crystal clear and the reflection of the mountains made it look as if we were at a different place altogether.

After spending 30 minutes we finally set for Tso-Kar. On our way we stopped at many places to shoot marmots and pika. Marmots are mouse type mammals found in these areas. They are the longest hibernating animals. They spend the long winter in the hole for seven months and when they come out in winters most of their time is spend in feeding.

Pika is another amazing animal in these regions. They are small hare, very small and very cute. After having enough pictures we started towards Tso-Kar. On our way the Sun set down. As soon the sun touched the horizon the temperature started falling steeply. Suddenly our car stopped and yes it was the 2^nd time our car broke down again in a barren land. We came outside to see what happened. Our driver and cook started repairing the car and we were told that it could be repaired but it might take some time. The “some time” became two long hours. We were not able to stand outside and very soon got into the car. After fixing the problem we started but in slower speed. It was dark and cold outside. We reached the camp site quite late. The camp site was big and full of tourists. The tourists were all from Israel whom we met during dinner. These tents are much bigger and better than the Tso-Moriri one. Just 10 minutes back the tent manager provided us a couple of hot water bag which gives immense pleasure in this cold. The bed, blankets are also of good quality. Hope this night we would have fewer problems as we have good bedding arrangements coupled with hot water bags.

3^rd September, 2008 9:00 PM

Tso-Kar Camp Site

Today was an amazing day. The night was comfortable inside the tent and we had a good sleep. I started my day very early as the lake is quite far from the camp site. Tso-Kar is a salt water lake which covers an area of about ten square kilometers. Tsokar Lake is rich in huge deposits of impure salt, mostly found on its northern shore. The altitude is 4268 meters. While Amit and I were moving towards the lake we found some bird activity in a plateau area far from the lake. Being near we found them to be “Tibetan Sandgrouse”. Our heart jumped in excitement as these are some rare beauties. There were two big groups but very shy and were not allowing us to be in a good photographic distance. And the area was plane without any trees or rock. So we couldn’t hide ourselves also. We started waiting sitting on the rocky surface. We planned to crawl to get closer to the birds but as the place was rocky we couldn’t so. After waiting more than one hour a group started moving near us. Though they are still quite far from our lens distance but we didn’t want to miss this chance. We started to crawl and some how managed to get some decent photographs of these beauties.

After being with these Sandgrouse for more than an hour we started moving towards the lake again. We already crossed more than a kilometre but still the lake was quite far. We were exhausted under the scorching sun. We decided to come back to the camping side to have our breakfast. After having breakfast we again went to the lake by car. We even took a third trip after lunch, but were unable to click any wildlife photos due to bad weather. I just managed to take some landscape shots. We moved another side of the lake and found a group of “Kyang” – Tibetan Wild Ass. They are such a beauty. After spending few hours behind them we could manage to take some decent shots.

Then we planned to visit a gompha near by. While travelling; Amit pointed some moving object in far. Immediately I could recognise them – the rarest beauty of Ladakh, Black Neck Crane. There were two. It was then late afternoon. Those birds were about 3/4 kilometers away in a marsh land. We started our move behind them. We had to travel approximately a couple of kilometres in the marshes. The bone chilling wind started again and we were travelling in an open marshland. The birds were moving too. We couldn’t reach them after struggling for two hours. We could just manage some record shot of these rarest beauties. As the sun was setting and the temperature was falling steeply we decided to go back to the car. When we reached our car we were exhausted, cold and sad.

Tomorrow is our last day in this beautiful land. We are starting for Manali early morning by car.

4^th September, 2008 10:30 PM

Manali

We had an amazing car drive from Tso-Kar to Manali. The road was long, scenic, and rough.

We are extremely lucky that we experienced heavy snow fall while travelling through Bar-Lacha-La, the third highest motorable path in the world.

It took almost 12 hours to reach Manali from Tso-Kar.

It was an amazing trip overall. We will come back again in this beautiful place. JULEY Ladakh.

Our Team was –

Amit Mitra – Support Analyst, Logica
Rumi Mitra – IT Analyst, TCS
Rima Banerjee – Analyst, Target
Neloy Banerjee – Sr. Security Analyst, Accenture

Also I would like to mention we tried to make a documentary film on "Human Wildlife conflict in Ladakh" during our Ladakh stays. It was a humble beginning......

Special Thanks To -

1. Mr. David Sonam - Owner of Hotel Snow View and an amazing person whom we met at Leh. He helped us in every steps during our Ladakh stay and making the documentary.

2. Mr. Jigmet Takpa - Conservator of Forest, J&K. He helped us a lot with his knowledge, experience, thought and time to make our documentary film.

3. Mr. Tapo Lawang - He was our tour conductor. Owner of http://www.ladakh-guide.com

4. Khenrup - Our guide during Hemmis Trek. He was a person with supreme knowledge of the wildlife in Ladakh. He works as an official guide with J&K wildlife department.